I always get disappointed and frustrated when I see a residential screen installed in a retail store or restaurant. But more importantly I always wonder whether the store owner had any idea of what they were getting themselves into when they decided to purchase a residential screen (yes… it’s obviously cheaper!!!) but can you really use it in a commercial environment?

What most people don’t know is that if a residential screen is installed in a commercial environment the warranty may become void. So check the warranty before installing residential screens. Another big difference between Commercial and Residential Screens is that most commercial grade screens do not have internal TV tuner cards – you’ll generally need to purchase this as an additional module or item. What I find most interesting is that most restaurants with screens just display live TV rather than promote their products or menu items. This could be a reason why these types of businesses would want to use retail screens or maybe they don’t realise what they can use this real estate for.

As I mentioned before retail screens are cheaper. Most businesses use price to make their final purchasing decision so when submitting your next proposal keep in mind that your competitor’s prices could be cheaper than yours. Commercial screens are designed to be left on for long periods of time and will last longer.

I also believe there is a myth that using retails screens means you can install the screen yourself and that for commercial screens you need a skilled and professional installer. Both are equally the same and if can install a retail screen then you will most likely be able to install a commercial screen but we highly recommend you have a skilled professional install the screens.

Category: Digital Signage Blog News

digital signage is now becoming more popular in retail stores and now it’s a good time to install one in yours. Whether you’re a small retail store or a large retail chain, we’ve done it all. We’ve helped and provided our customers with simple and standalone digital signage solution for a single store to building a digital signage network for a large corporate retail chain.
There are many, many digital signage products in the market and what we do different is to provide our clients with a cost effective solution that meets their needs. We have tested many solutions and we basically recommend the most effective solution that meets our clients requirements. Whether its a digital signage player, an all in one digital signage system, a display screen or content, we can help businesses in the retail industry.

Category: Digital Signage Blog Info

I recently thought of an idea (it’s probably out there already) to integrate digital signage and Skype (I’m sure you know what this is…. if not this is basically a computer application which allows you to make voice or video calls over the Internet).

After all digital signage is a communication tool and what better way to communicate with each other by using Skype. Here’s an example of what needs to be done and can be achieved:

1. Install a digital touch screen at a booth (maybe at a busy shopping centre)

2. Install the advertise me digital signage solution

3. Design the relevant templates and content

4. Install a web cam and connect this to your digital signage solution

5. Install the skype application

6. Install an internet connection

7. Develop the digital signage application which lists companies customer call centres

How to use it?

8. You look for Advertise Me (for example) in the directory list because you want to speak to a sales representative about a product you are about to purchase

9. You touch the “call Advertise Me” button and the system starts establishing a skype session to Advertise Me

10. A representative at Advertise Me receives the call and you have a video conference and start chatting away about the products. The Advertise Me representative may even show you how the product can be used etc and directs you to the nearest retail store.

11. Once you end the session, the digital signage application plays relevant content (product info, sales, discounts) from company you just dialed. Or this can also be displayed during the video call.

12. After a certain idle period of time, the digital signage application defaults back to a playlist displaying ads etc.

So there you go, that’s an idea I just came up with. Maybe if we have time we can actually make this happen, or if you want it straight away we can make this happen for you.Obviously we’ll need to get permission from Skype but I’m sure they too would want this to happen as well.

What do you think about this idea?

Feel free to submit your answer as a comment.

Category: Digital Signage Ideas

It was a worthwhile trip to Melbourne for the 3 days Retail Expo. Apart from the general retail equipment and conventional display signage, in my opinion it was digital signage which took the light of the show.

At the centre of the show (I do mean right at the centre on the floor) showcased the Retail 2020 – Store of the future. Having said “store of the future” one would start to think automated customer interaction (without having to input anything into the screen), focused one-to-one marketing in personalising each customer’s experience – and that’s what it did. Picking up a pair of trousers and bringing them in front of a screen will trigger a video, Barcode scanners that control and manage content, just to name a few.

Traffic monitoring was also a feature that couldn’t be left out. People counting and activity flow were the main items on the list. However I would have liked to see eye tracking and facial expressions data, and possibly gender and age group contributing into the demographics.

Overall I am quite happy to see more strategies in improving customer experience – customer focus. Although one can argue to say it is what you do with the content that drives consumer decisions, which is true. What I was afraid of was only seeing back-end technologies in which we have all already seen and used over these many years. With automated customer interaction, one can add to the efficiency by customising (and market) the content to be more effective for the customer.

Did you visit the Melbourne Retail Expo 2009? Please share your experience with us.

Category: Digital Signage Blog Events